V1.9

Below is the unedited text of an email from Imacon to Flextight scanner owners on March 31, 2000:

Dear Flextight User,

It’s a pleasure to announce that the new PC version of ColorFlex is release today.

Please find a comprehensive description of the new features, compared to ColorFlex 1.7 for PC. If you are a Mac user, you should not download this application, as it is for PC’s only. Installation issues Please note that on Windows NT or 2000 you should be logged on as administrator when doing the installation.

Upgrade information

When upgrading from a previous version it’s recommended to install to a new folder, and this will be the case if you simply follow the default install options. Custom settings that were made with earlier versions should be dragged from the old Settings folder to the folder named "User defined" located in the 1.9 settings folder. User of Flextight Photo will experience one major change. The recommended original mounting has been changed to emulsion up, which will bend the film in it’s "natural" direction. Since this new mounting is expected your preview will appear to be mirrored if you mount originals emulsion down.

New features

This version has a number of improvements compared to the previous Windows release which was 1.7.1:

1) ICC features We now have separate menus for specifying RGB and CMYK output profiles – the current scan mode determines which one to use. It is now possible to generate TIFF files with embedded profiles. To control this feature 2 new checkboxes has been added in the ICM tab of the Setup dialog:

Embed Profiles Convert

The first checkbox controls whether profiles will be embedded or not, while the the other controls whether color matching via ICM is performed.

Scan mode, profile selection, conversion, softproof and embedding are interdependent and not all combinations are valid. Please note the following:

a) ICM is used only when the scanmode is set to RGB, RGB 16 bit or CMYK. Embedding, conversion or softproof does not apply to other modes.

b) To use conversion you must select an input profile and an output profile. When conversion is applied data in the TIFF file is matched via the specified input and output profiles.

c) When embedding a profile in the TIFF file, the output profile is used if conversion is applied, otherwise the input profile will be embedded.

d) Softproof does only apply when conversion is selected. If the combination chosen is not valid, Colorflex will give a warning in the ICM tab in the Setup dialog.

2)Variable picker size

A new button left of the RGB/CMYK readouts in the preview window can be used to select a grid size for the various picker functions. Possible sizes are 1×1,3×3 and 5×5. They apply to all functions where pixel values are selected from the preview via the cursor.

3) Enhanced shadow details Improved algorithms will now deliver more details in the shadow areas. The function is optional and controlled by a checkbox in the General tab in the Setup Dialog. The function is default active and should only be deselected for images with a very narrow dynamic area or for images with an unusually high amount of color information in dark areas.

4) Improved Unsharp Mask

The improved algorithm works on the lightness channel, and therefore generates no color odd effects.

5) Background preview update

You’re no longer forced to wait for the preview update, after changing correction parameters, since the update now takes place in the background.

6) 16 bit grayscale

This scan mode has now been added

7)Improved focus calibration

Calibrating reflective formats has previously been quite sensitive to the use of holders and focus originals. This should now work much more reliable.

8) Shadow depth This is a new slider in the gradation window. It allows you to lighten dark originals, obtaining shadow details of much better quality than what you’ll achieve by simply increasing gamma or dragging the RGB curve.

9) 3200 dpi for Precision II 60mm

This resolution is now supported instead of the old 2880 dpi.

To enable 3200 dpi mode you need to focus the 60 mm format. Please be aware that at the moment the only easy way to revert to 2880 is to downgrade to an earlier version of the software and refocus in 60 mm. Once the scanner has been focused for 3200 dpi the 1.9 software will automatically assume that it should use 3200 dpi, regardless of any calibrations done in pre 1.9 software.

10) Automatic auto after cropping

This feature which can be turned on and off in the Preferences dialog will perform the auto adjustments immediately after making a new cropping of the preview. Apart from turning it on and off in Preferences you can use the option key to temporarily reverse the setting when making a new cropping. This way if the feature has been turned off you can still use it by pressing option while cropping.

11) New input profiles

A new set of input profiles have been fine tuned to the different Flextight models. We recommend that you use these as follows:

a) Transmission positives

Use the profile that’s named after your scanner model. The profiles are named "Flextight Precision", "Flextight Photo" and "Flextight Progression" respectively.

b) Transmission negatives

Use the "Flextight Input" profile for negatives on all models.

c) ReflectivesFor the Progression we have a profile named "Flextight Progression Ref" especially for this purpose.

12) Sorted setup menu

The items have now been sorted into 3 groups:

a) Standard

b) Standard negative

c) User defined

All setups created by the user will end up in the User defined group. The sorting is actually based on a folder hierarchy inside the Settings folder. Therefore the poweruser can customize the groupings by adding, renaming or removing folders inside the Settings folder. Please note that only the first level of folders are scanned, so there’s no such thing as subgroups within groups. And don’t delete or rename the User defined folder.

13) ICC preview display

Whenever an input profile has been selected in the ColorSync setup, the preview will now be displayed using this and the current monitor profile.

14) CCD calibration

This new feature, to be found in the Maintenance menu, is meant to cureproblems with pixelwide vertical stripes that can occur when scanning 24×36 negatives, or very dark positives. The calibration should be performed using a color negative, preferably without too many contours – a blue sky should give a good result. When the calibration has been made the data will be used to optimize all scans done in resolutions down to half the maximum optical resolution for a frame. Note that this feature is primarily for existing users. If you received your scanner with ColorFlex 1.9 or later it will have been CCD calibrated at the factory, and there should be no need to perform a new calibration. Presently this feature will work with Flextight Precision and Progression scanners only.

15) Support for Flextight Photo and Progression

These models are fully supported

Other changes:

The possibility of deselecting "Extended white calibration" has been removed from the Setup dialog.

Compatibility issues

Color Management

This version supports ICM 2.0 color management using ICC profiles. ICM 2.0 is the PC equivalent of ColorSync V. 2 on the Mac platform. It is available in Windows 98 and Windows 2000. Therefore to produce finished CMYK scans from ColorFlex you need to run it on one of those 2 operating systems.

Realtime screen updates

The software supports realtime screen updates while dragging gradation curves, contrast sliders etc. This feature will not be available on all PC configurations. First of all some video cards will not support it. NT 4 does not allow this feature either, but the upcoming Windows 2000 will. If you’re running Windows 95,98 or 2000 and real time updates don’t work, you’re welcome to contact us with info about your current video card for advice on compatibility.

FlexTight 4800 support

To use this software with a FlexTight 4800 scanner you need to place a copy of your imacon.ini file in the application folder containing ColorFlex.exe. If you have previously used a FlexTight Precision scanner on the same machine you must also delete the Pref.prf file from the application folder. Operating system The software requires Windows 95, 98, NT 4 or Windows 2000. When using NT4 or Windows 2000 it is required to install Adaptec EZ-SCSI V 4.0 or later.

Michael Reichmann is the founder of the Luminous Landscape. Since its inception in 1999 LuLa has become the world's largest site devoted to the art, craft, and technology of photography. Each month more than one million people from every country on the globe visit LuLa.

Michael Reichmann is the founder of the Luminous Landscape. Since its inception in 1999 LuLa has become the world's largest site devoted to the art, craft, and technology of photography. Each month more than one million people from every country on the globe visit LuLa.